Featured · Plan a day
A James Herriot day in Thirsk
Thirsk is Darrowby. An hour-by-hour day around Alf Wight's town, from the real Skeldale House to the church where he married, planned from our door.
15 August 2026 · 4 min read
Journal
Notes from the market square
Guides to Thirsk and news from the kitchen. 40 posts so far.
Category
Topics
40 posts
Afternoon tea
Christmas shopping in Thirsk, with afternoon tea booked from your phone
A Christmas shopping day on Thirsk market square: the Saturday market, the gift and charity shops round the square, then afternoon tea at Tea Time, booked online from your phone.
31 October 20264 min read
Plan a day
What's on in Thirsk in November
November 2026 in Thirsk: two bonfire nights, Remembrance weekend at the Ritz and Rural Arts, the artisan market on the square, a Christmas cookery night in the Town Hall, and the lights on the 27th.
31 October 20264 min read
Plan a day
Thirsk Christmas lights switch-on 2026
Thirsk's Christmas lights switch-on on the Market Place, listed for Friday 27 November at 6.30pm, with the Christmas Fair in the Town Hall that weekend. What we know so far.
31 October 20264 min read
Plan a day
A Christmas day out in Thirsk for two
A Friday for two in Thirsk on 4 December: a rag wreath each upstairs at Tea Time, afternoon tea downstairs, then Kirkgate and the Herriot museum before dark.
27 October 20266 min readAfternoon tea
Afternoon tea in Thirsk as a Christmas present
Gift vouchers from Tea Time, the cafe on Thirsk market square: afternoon tea, brunch, lunch or coffee and cake, ordered by phone or contact form, posted with a handwritten note or emailed as a code.
27 October 20267 min read
Events
A fresh foliage Christmas wreath, made upstairs in Thirsk
Make a Christmas wreath from fresh, sustainably grown foliage with Holly from Tarragon Flowers, upstairs at our Thirsk cafe on Friday 27 November.
27 October 20264 min read
Plan a day
New Year in and around Thirsk
Jump racing at Wetherby and Catterick, pantomimes in York and Richmond, Glow at Harlow Carr and a New Year's Day walk up Sutton Bank: Christmas to New Year near Thirsk.
27 October 20266 min read
Events
A Christmas rag wreath with a past life
Local maker Helen Shakespeare turns worn-out clothes into Christmas rag wreaths. Make one with her upstairs at our Thirsk cafe on Friday 4 December.
27 October 20267 min readAfternoon tea
Afternoon tea in Thirsk before Christmas
Afternoon tea on Thirsk market square through November and December: booking a time online, the Christmas Eve change, bigger groups, and a voucher as a present.
18 October 20264 min read
Events
A team day in Thirsk this winter, in the room upstairs
A private room above Tea Time on Thirsk market square for up to 20 this winter: a planning day, a training course or an interview panel, with the food carried up from our kitchen.
18 October 20264 min readPlan a day
Half-term days out near Thirsk
Apple Week at Ampleforth, trick or treat on the Moors Railway, pumpkins in Castle Howard and re-enactors at Fountains: October half term within an hour of Thirsk.
8 October 20264 min read
Plan a day
James Herriot's writing home gets its blue plaque
Rowardennan in Sowerby, where Alf Wight wrote the James Herriot books, has a blue plaque: the house, the man, Thirsk's other twenty plaques and the walk out.
8 October 20266 min readPlan a day
Bonfire Night near Thirsk
Five firework displays within half an hour of Thirsk this year: Monk Park Farm and Northallerton on Thursday 5 November, Burtree, Bedale and Masham on Saturday 7 November.
5 October 20264 min read
Plan a day
Christmas in and around Thirsk
Christmas markets, a pantomime at the Town Hall, Santa at Thorp Perrow and carols at Fountains, from mid-November to Christmas Eve, all within forty minutes of Thirsk.
5 October 20264 min read
Events
A Christmas party in the room upstairs
A private room above the cafe for up to 20 this Christmas: a team breakfast, an office lunch or a family afternoon tea, with the food made downstairs and carried up.
5 October 20263 min readPlan a day
Halloween and half term in Thirsk
Half term runs 26 to 30 October and Halloween is the Saturday after: Rural Arts workshops, Shaun the Sheep at the Ritz, pumpkins and a Halloween trail.
5 October 20263 min read
Plan a day
What's open in Thirsk on a wet day
Six places to spend a wet day in Thirsk, all within five minutes of the square, and which of them are open on each day of the week, Sunday and Monday included.
28 September 20265 min read
Plan a day
The Moonlight Glow Walk at Thirsk Racecourse
Herriot Hospice's first Moonlight Glow Walk sets off from Thirsk Racecourse on Saturday 3 October: a 5k after dark through the centre of town and back, glow sticks encouraged.
28 September 20264 min read
Plan a day
Pumpkin picking near Thirsk
The Great Yorkshire Pumpkin Festival at Monk Park Farm, ten minutes from the square: which days, which ticket, what happens in the rain, and the two kinds of evening.
28 September 20264 min read
Events
A long table upstairs, and the kitchen underneath it
A private room above the cafe for up to 20, with its own door off the street and the food made downstairs and carried up. What it suits, and how the booking is taken.
8 September 20263 min read
From the kitchen
Fresh scones every morning, and a biscuit called the sconotti
We bake scones every morning, so the one you pick up was made today. Yesterday's come back as the sconotti, a crisp biscuit we sell with the soup. The till has counted 1,311 since 2022.
7 September 20263 min read
Plan a day
Fountains Abbey after dark, and what to do with the day first
The National Trust lights the abbey and the water garden on eight October evenings, thirty-five minutes from Thirsk. We shut at four; the evening is theirs.
4 September 20264 min read
Plan a day
The Seven Bridges walk, twelve minutes from the market square
A quiet woodland path twelve minutes from Thirsk market square, where a stream crosses under you again and again. Free, short, and most walkers turn back before it.
2 September 20266 min readFrom the kitchen
A cream tea in Thirsk, and what is coming this autumn
Walk in for cream tea at Tea Time Café in Thirsk. Choose a sweet scone with jam and clotted cream or a cheese scone with red onion relish.
29 August 20263 min read
Plan a day
Get ready here before Ladies' Day at Thirsk
Thirsk Racecourse's next Ladies' Day is Saturday 4 September 2027. Breakfast, a private room to get ready in, and twenty minutes to the gates.
27 August 20263 min read
Plan a day
The road up Sutton Bank has reopened
The A170 up Sutton Bank reopened on Sunday 4 October after its three-week maintenance closure, so the White Horse and the view are back as a short drive from Thirsk.
23 August 20263 min readPlan a day
All Creatures Great & Small Family Day in Thirsk
Thirsk Racecourse runs family days through the summer. How to spend the morning at the real Skeldale House, four minutes from our door, then walk down for the racing.
20 August 20264 min readNews
Christmas and New Year hours
When we are open and closed over Christmas 2026 and the New Year, and when to get your celebration cake order in.
16 August 20262 min read
Plan a day
Walking the Thirsk blue plaques
The original twenty blue plaques, the new James Herriot plaque in Sowerby, and six stories worth stopping for on a walk from Thirsk Market Place.
16 August 20265 min readPlan a day
A James Herriot day in Thirsk
Thirsk is Darrowby. An hour-by-hour day around Alf Wight's town, from the real Skeldale House to the church where he married, planned from our door.
15 August 20264 min readPlan a day
Market day in Thirsk, done properly
Thirsk market has run on the cobbles since 1145. A local's guide to Mondays and Saturdays, from the early breakfast to the charity shop trail.
15 August 20264 min readPlan a day
Race day at Thirsk starts with breakfast
Thirsk Racecourse runs 16 flat fixtures between April and September, twenty minutes walk from the market square. How to build the day around it.
15 August 20263 min read
From the kitchen
How we make our scones
In at half past seven, and the leftovers become a biscuit. Rosa on the scone recipe that came off a 1967 Citroen van, and the two things that go wrong at home.
10 August 20263 min read
Afternoon tea
Afternoon tea at Tea Time, what to expect
What is actually on the stand, how booking a time works, what we can swap for allergies, and the honest answer on how much food it is.
5 August 20263 min readEvents
Free co-working, Wednesdays and Thursdays
The room above the cafe is open free on Wednesdays and Thursdays, nine to four. Desks, wifi, a kitchen downstairs, and you turn up and take a table.
30 July 20262 min read
News
Tired of Working Alone? Discover a new co working community in Thirsk
The July 2025 announcement of free co-working days at the cafe - why working alone wears thin, and what the upstairs room offers.
2 July 20253 min read
From the kitchen
Spice up your life... with a Turmeric Latte!
Rosa's 2023 recipe for the cafe's turmeric latte, with the spice mix by weight and how to make it at home.
13 March 20231 min read
From the kitchen
Tea Time Café: A perfect brew every time!
From 2023 - individual teapots, mismatched vintage china, a three-minute timer, and True Tea Co. blends from Harrogate.
9 March 20232 min read
News
Sipping Sustainably: How Tea Time Café is Reducing its Environmental Footprint
Rosa's 2023 note on how the cafe cuts its footprint - local suppliers, the Topcliffe farm, composting, and a discount for reusable cups.
9 March 20232 min read
Plan a day
Tea Time Travels: Discover the Magic of Thirsk
Rosa's 2023 guide to a Thirsk holiday - Sutton Bank, the World of James Herriot, the racecourse, the markets and the independent shops.
9 March 20233 min read
On the notice board
Everything on in ThirskUntil Fri 27 Nov
North Yorkshire Council is repaving the footway on the southern side of the Market Place, between the Three Tuns and Castlegate, until 27 November. Shops stay open and reachable on foot
Read more →Until Sun 21 Feb
Luminescence, the winter light trail at Swinton
A mile-long light trail through the woodland and lakeside gardens of Swinton Park near Masham, on selected evenings from 31 October to 21 February
Read more →Until Sat 21 Nov
Music and Remembrance at Rural Arts: Rural Arts: The Arts Collective Autumn Exhibition
Original prints and ceramics by the Courthouse's Open Studio artists, Tuesday to Saturday, 11am to 2pm
Read more →Until Thu 12 Nov
Films at the Ritz: At the Ritz: De Gaulle, Liberte (15)
The Ritz on Westgate, run by volunteers, shows a film each week at 7.30pm, seven pounds on the door
Read more →Until Sun 3 Jan
A Dickens of a Christmas at Castle Howard: Castle Howard: A Dickens of a Christmas
The house dressed for a Victorian Christmas drawn from Dickens's novels. All Christmas tickets are pre-booked
Read more →Fri 13 Nov
Christmas in Northallerton town centre: Northallerton late-night shopping
Northallerton BID's run-up to Christmas, with late-night shopping on 13 November, a Christmas food market on 22 November and a Snowman and Elf Trail through December
Read more →
